rants, inquiries, and general offerings. explicit language within. you have been warned.

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maybe "rants" isn't the right word. these are simple thoughts about my life. some may be more colorful than others. some language may be offensive, but it depends on your definition of offensive. consider this your warning ;)

17 December 2013

Snowmance

“How can you not get romantic about baseball?”

–Brad Pitt as Billy Beane in Moneyball.

That’s the voice I heard in my head as I drove home from
work today. In a light snow, well after the sun has set, I thought, “How can
you not be romantic about winter?”

Don’t get me wrong, I miss my California family, and I’m
excited as all hell to see them for Christmas, but the more I think about it,
the more I’m not really looking forward to the warmer weather.

Call me crazy, and many of you already do when it comes to
this, but the lack of four seasons where I’ve lived on the west coast isn’t my
preferred weather cycle.

Yes, I love 70 degree weather and the days like April 25th
where all you need is a light jacket (don’t judge, it was on tv yesterday and
my wife was watching it), but this past year, seeing the seasons actually
change here in one of Jason’s “flyover states,” I miss having four seasons even
more than I thought I would when I left Virginia to come back to California
years ago.

Tonight, as I drove home, and also when I admired the fresh
powder on the grass walking up to the door, I realized why I love snow in the
winter so much—it has been a part of a few winters along the path of growing
up.

In the winter after boot camp, I was still in Illinois for a
couple months before transferring to South Carolina. For this California kid’s
first winter in the Navy, the snow from the Great Lakes piled higher than waist
level around base.

On a North Atlantic deployment with The Mighty Rickover,
this time twelve years ago I was in Norway. Yeah, it was cold. Definitely the
coldest place I’ve ever been in my life, but damn was it gorgeous. Taking the
tram up the mountain and seeing the fjords as snow drifted down from the
heavens is something I’ll never forget. Walking through the plazas past
decorated buildings, snow filling the cracks of cobblestone walkways. Truly
breathtaking. Standing outside the club eating pizza from a place nearby
because we felt like a food break between shots and dancing.

A couple of weeks in Maryland, working at Aberdeen Proving
Ground and getting a taste of Baltimore.

My last winter in Virginia Beach, playing in the park during
the day and driving around in my truck at night to see the Christmas lights.

And now this winter, living with my wife, driving home from
my one, full-time job to spend time with my wife in our toasty, little
apartment with our mild-mannered Christmas tree and a couple of dorm-lifestyle
chairs.

Eventually the winters will be spent in California again,
and when they are, I’m sure we’ll enjoy our time with our family and friends
who are much closer geographically than they are now. But at some point, I’ll
think back to the snow. The places where jackets are actually needed for warmth
and snowball fights and snow angels aren’t just pipe dreams.